


fundraising and other things to do now that you're not a stormtrooper

by JenTheSweetie



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Anal Sex, Gen, Hand Jobs, M/M, Oral Sex, Post-TLJ, Rey Always Figures It Out, boys being dumb, oh and there's a space walmart, road trips in space
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-16
Updated: 2018-04-16
Packaged: 2019-04-23 12:44:49
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,146
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14332740
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JenTheSweetie/pseuds/JenTheSweetie
Summary: Leia smiled patiently.  “And why did you defect from the First Order?”“Because it sucked,” Finn said, and winced.  Were you supposed to say things “sucked” in front of generals?“I imagine it did,” Leia said.  “But why did you defect that day?”“Because they wanted me to kill people,” Finn said.  “And I didn’t want to do it, so they were going to send me to reconditioning, and that would have sucked even more, so I decided I’d rather take my chances getting out of there with the only person who I knew definitely wouldn’t turn me in.  So really, I just got lucky.”Poe turned to Leia.  “He just convinced me.  Can I quit the Resistance so that I can join the Resistance again?”In which Finn goes on a road trip, befriends a princess, and starts sleeping with his best friend.





	fundraising and other things to do now that you're not a stormtrooper

“So let me get this straight,” Finn said.  “You want me - a _stormtrooper_  - ”

“Former stormtrooper,” Poe interrupted.

“ - to go out into the galaxy at large and ask random people - ”

“Not random,” Leia said, “people we have an in with.”

“ - to join the Resistance?”

Poe and Leia glanced at each other.  “That pretty much sums it up,” Leia said.  “Do you have any questions?”

“Yeah,” Finn said.  “Many.”

“Shoot,” Poe said.

“I get that there aren’t, like, a _lot_  of us right now,” Finne said, “but there’s gotta be someone around who’s better qualified to be a recruiter than me, right?”

“Depends on what you mean by qualified,” Poe said.

“Experienced,” Finn said.  “Well-spoken.  Has actually been around here longer than the time it takes to grow a beard.”  

“Finn,” Leia said, “why are you here with us?  With the Resistance?”

“Uh,” Finn said, “because I defected from the First Order and don’t have anywhere else to go?”

Leia smiled patiently.  “And why did you defect from the First Order?”

“Because it sucked,” Finn said, and winced.  Were you supposed to say things “sucked” in front of generals?  

“I imagine it did,” Leia said.  “But why did you defect _that_  day?”

“Because they wanted me to kill people,” Finn said.  “And I didn’t want to do it, so they were going to send me to reconditioning, and that would have sucked even _more_ , so I decided I’d rather take my chances getting out of there with the only person who I knew definitely wouldn’t turn me in.  So really, I just got lucky.”

Poe turned to Leia.  “He just convinced me.  Can I quit the Resistance so that I can join the Resistance again?”

“Be my guest,” Leia said indulgently.  “Finn, let me assure you: you’re _very_  qualified.  And Commander Dameron will be joining you, so if you have any questions, you can ask him.”  She reached out and put a hand on his shoulder.  “We need to show people that we’re still here, that we’re not backing down, and that we’re going to come back stronger than ever.  And you’re the perfect person to tell them.”

Finn looked from Leia to Poe and back.  “Are you _sure_?”

“Very rarely,” Leia.  “But about this, absolutely.”

“I get the feeling I can’t really say no,” Finn said.

“I always knew you had good instincts,” Leia said, and clapped him on the back.  “Pack a bag, Finn.  Time to hit the road.”

  
  
  


“I wish you could come with us,” Finn said, throwing his pack on the bunk next to Rey.

“Me too,” Rey said.  “Except not really.  It sounds kind of boring.”

“Wow, thanks for the encouragement,” Finn said.  He pulled open the locker at the foot of his bed and examined everything he owned: a shirt (previously Poe’s), a pair of pants (previously Poe’s), two pairs of socks (one previously Poe’s, the other origin unknown; possibly Han Solo?  Finn hadn’t asked) and half a bar of chocolate (Poe had eaten the first half and then given it to him; he’d been saving it for later).  It all fit in the bag with room to spare, especially if he ate the rest of the chocolate, which he was seriously considering.  

“Sorry,” Rey said, even though Finn could tell she wasn’t.  “It’s really good of _you_ to go, though.  We need new recruits.”

“Yeah,” Finn said, “since I got all the old ones killed.”

“Finn,” Rey said.  

“I know, I know,” Finn muttered, zipping up his bag.  Rey kept saying there was no point blaming himself for what happened; it didn’t help anybody now, and it was more important to look to the future and do what they could to rebuild.  Rey had come back from that weird Jedi island sounding about a hundred years older and wiser than she had back on Jakku. 

“And anyway, it won’t be that bad,” Rey said.  “At least Poe will be with you.”

Finn flopped down on the bunk next to Rey.  “I’m so glad one of my only friends in the whole galaxy will be there to see when I make a complete fool of myself.”

“You’re not going to make a complete fool of yourself,” Rey said.  She poked him.  “Hey.”

“What?”

“You’re going to be good at this.”

“You do _not_  know that for sure.”

“Yes I do.”

“How?  And don’t say ‘the Force’.”

“I wasn’t going to say the Force!  I know because you’re good at everything.”

“That’s definitely not true,” Finn said.

“Name one thing you’re bad at,” Rey challenged.

“I burned eggs the other day,” Finn countered.

“To be fair,” Rey said, “the stove was mostly broken.”

“And yet, I still burned them.”

“Okay, so you’re good at _almost_  everything.”  

“That doesn’t mean I’m going to be good at this,” Finn grumbled.

“You can comm me every night and tell me if it’s a disaster, okay?” Rey said.  “I won’t laugh.  Much.”

“You’re such a good friend,” Finn said, elbowing her.  “Man, how’d I get so lucky?”

“You just have a knack,” Rey said.

  
  
  


“So how you feeling?” Poe said as he eased the two-man light freighter onto the landing strip the next day.

“Fine,” Finn said, which was a lie: he was feeling sick to his stomach, possibly because of the eggs (not burned this time!  A little undercooked, if anything, actually) but probably because they were about to walk into some guy’s house on this moon in a system Finn had never even heard of and try to convince him to give them a ton of credits.  

(“So basically we’re panhandling,” Finn said, when Poe explained it.  

“We prefer the term ‘fundraising’,” Poe replied.)

“You’re nervous,” Poe said.

“What if he tries to shoot us?”

“He’s not going to try to shoot us.”

“People try to shoot us pretty frequently,” Finn said.  “It’s well-known.”

“This guy isn’t going to shoot us,” Poe said.  “He’s given us money before, but he likes to keep it quiet.  He’s got his hands in deals all over the galaxy, and you never know who’s watching, right?  But he knows people, and a lot of them are nervous after what they saw Starkiller do.  A little pressure, and boom, we got ourselves some very valuable new allies.”

“If it’s so simple, what do you need me for?” Finn said.

“You underestimate the effect you have on people, Finn,” Poe said, opening the hatch and leading the way.

“Maybe,” Finn said, following him, “but have you considered the possibility that you’re _over_ estimating it?”

BB-8 trilled at them.

“We don’t need blasters,” Poe replied.

“Hang on,” Finn said, “even BB-8 thinks we might get shot at?”

“BB-8’s paranoid, don’t listen to him,” Poe said.

“Well, considering I don’t understand a word he says, I don’t have much of a choice,” Finn muttered.

The house they were approaching - well, house wasn’t quite the right word, _mansion_  was closer, or maybe there was another word that meant “even bigger than a mansion”, but if there was, Finn wasn’t familiar with it - had two guards stationed outside the front gate, and two more at the door.  They were all carrying extremely large blasters.  The blasters Finn and Poe left back in the ship would have been somewhat embarrassing in comparison; Finn wondered if maybe _that_  was why Poe had left them behind.

The guards seemed deeply uninterested in Finn and Poe, which Finn privately appreciated, and soon they were being escorted into a large, mostly empty room, except for a giant chair that was filled (and then some) by a massive Dowutin.  

“Poe Dameron,” the Dowutin said, his voice like a pile of rocks falling down.  Behind him stood a human woman that was so diminutive by comparison that Finn had barely noticed her when they walked in.  

“Stogglen,” Poe said.  “Good to see you again.”

“Is this the stormtrooper?” Stogglen said, nodding at Finn. 

“Yes, sir,” Finn said.

Stogglen peered at him through his slitted eyes.  Finn wondered if he was about to call for the guards.  “Sit,” he said finally.  

Poe settled himself on the settee across from Stogglen, and Finn perched next to him.  Undersized or no, he _really_  could have used the feel of a blaster at his hip right about now.  

“Tell me,” Stogglen said, his eyes focused on Finn.

“What?” Finn said, a little choked.

“Tell me how you escaped the First Order.”

So Finn did.  He started on Jakku, and barrelled straight ahead until he got to the part where he met Poe, and looked at Poe for backup as he talked through the TIE fighter battle, and the escape, and the crash in the hot, dry desert.  “And then,” he said, “I found my way to the Resistance.”

“And the First Order have not tried to eliminate you?” Stogglen said.

“Uh, they have,” Finn said.  “They probably will again.”

“We won’t let them,” Poe said.  “He’s the only reason we were able to blow up Starkiller.”

The woman behind Stogglen shifted and put her hand down on the chair.  Stogglen glanced at her.  “Ileana had family on Hosnian Prime,” he said.  

“I’m sorry,” Finn said, meeting her eyes for the first time; she looked away quickly.  

“We don’t want to give them the opportunity to build anything like that ever again,” Poe said.  “Can we count on your help?”

Stogglen’s eyes, somehow, got even smaller.  “They say there are only a few of you left.”

“They’re wrong,” Poe said.  “We’re everywhere.  We just need time to find each other.”

“You’re asking me to throw away credits for a lost cause.”

“We’re asking you to help us turn it into a fighting chance,” Finn said.  

The woman, Ileana, shifted again.  Stogglen glanced at her, and then sighed.

“I suppose,” Stogglen said, “we can work something out.”

Stogglen insisted that they eat before they leave, and Finn did, even though he wasn’t really hungry - those eggs, ugh, he _had_  to stop trying to make eggs - and it was late in the afternoon before they rose to leave.  

“Do you think,” Stogglen said, after they’d bowed to him politely, “that there will be more defectors?”

“I don’t know,” Finn said slowly.  “I don’t think many stormtroopers get as good a chance to leave as I did.  We certainly never heard about anybody who was successful.  But if they do - well, we’ll make sure they know where to go.”

Stogglen nodded, just once, and they left.

  
  
  


“Hey.  Finn.  You awake?”

“Unfortunately,” Finn said.  “You sure we have to be up in four hours?”

“Sorry, buddy.  It’ll already be mid-afternoon on-planet by then.”

“Space lag sucks,” Finn grumbled, twisted around in his bunk in what seemed like a doomed attempt to get comfortable.

“Tell me about it.  Hey, you were great down there with Stogglen today.”

“I just told him the truth.”

“That’s what I’m talking about,” Poe said.  “People _want_  the truth.  The First Order is all about lies, and _you_ , you’re the proof of that that everybody’s always wanted.”

“I guess,” Finn said.  

“I mean it, Finn,” Poe said.  Finn could hear him shifting in his own bunk across the narrow living quarters.  “It was one thing for you to just show up and exist, that got Stogglen’s attention, but he really _listened_  to you.  A lot of people are going to want to listen to you.”

Finn got the feeling Poe was staring at him through the darkness, and he squirmed a little bit.  “I don’t know.  I’m not like you.  People don’t really listen to me.”

“That’s where you’re wrong,” Poe said, in that confident way he had, like it was completely inconceivable that _he_  could be the one who was wrong.     

“If you say so,” Finn said, punching at his pillow.

“Doesn’t hurt that you’re easy on the eyes,” Poe said, and Finn could hear his grin even in the darkness.

“Shut up,” Finn said.

“I’m serious,” Poe said, even though he clearly wasn’t.  “We start showing you off and get people thinking they all look like you under the buckets and everybody’ll be trying to find their own defector.”  

Finn threw his pillow in the general direction of Poe’s bunk.

“I’m just saying, we gotta take our advantages where we can get them!” Poe said, laughing.

“I’m going to sleep now,” Finn said loudly, rolling away from Poe.  

“Don’t you want your pillow back?”

“No,” Finn said, but Poe threw it at him anyway.

  
  
  


Finn hadn’t been in, like, a _lot_  of cantinas, but he was pretty sure that this one wouldn’t be considered one of the nicest by any criteria.  What it _could_  be considered was loud, crowded, and saturated with a distinct and noticeable smell.  

“Cheers,” Poe said, clinking his glass of ale against Finn’s and downing half of it in one gulp.

Finn took a sip of his own and looked around.  “You sure this is the right place?” he said quietly.  “The people here seem kind of… uh - ”

“Suspicious as hell?” Poe said.  “We’re definitely in the right place.”

“And that smell is…?”

“Life!” Poe said.  “So many kinds of it, mingling and mixing and making deals and getting laid and just _living_.”  He sniffed.  “Also I’m pretty sure somebody puked in the corner.  But other than that, life!”

Across the room there was a yell and a crash; Finn’s hand jumped for the blaster at his waist.

“Hey, hey,” Poe said, reaching out and grabbing Finn’s wrist.  “Cool it.  Don’t shoot in here unless somebody else does first, okay?  And probably not even then.  Just duck, maybe.”

“Are you expecting people to start shooting?” Finn said.

“I mean, it’s always good to be prepared,” Poe said.  “Another round?”

“I haven’t finished this one yet,” Finn said.

“I’ll drink ‘em both,” Poe said as the bartender delivered two more ales.  “Look, buddy, we’re trying to blend in.  This is a _chance meeting_ , right?  So try to look like you’re just here for a good time.”

“I don’t really know a _ton_  about being somewhere ‘for a good time’,” Finn said.  “In the First Order we occasionally had ‘an okay time’, is that similar?”

“I have so much to teach you,” Poe said, slinging an arm around Finn’s neck.  “And the very first thing is how to drink.”

“I know how to _drink_ ,” Finn said.  He took a too-large gulp of ale to prove it, and immediately spilled some of it down the front of his shirt.

“Right,” Poe said.  “But just as a refresher, step one: aim for your mouth.”

“Wow,” Finn said, finishing his drink and reaching for the second one.  “Talk about _insight_.  I’m so lucky to know you.”

“I know, right?” Poe said cheerfully, grabbing his own drink and throwing it back.  “Hey, so don’t look around, but I think I see our guy.”

Finn immediately looked around.  “Where?”

“Near the back, behind the pillar, and I said _don’t_  look,” Poe groaned.  “The one with the hat, see him?”

Finn hadn’t seen many smugglers in his life, so if he was completely honest he sort of expected all of them to look more or less like Han Solo.  The guy behind the pillar didn’t look anything like Han Solo; he looked like what happened if you mixed an insect and a small child and then put a hat on it.  

Poe waved down the bartender.  “Can I get two Kowakian rums, and another ale for my professional drinker over here?”

The cantina was so crowded Finn had to work hard not to bump into anybody as he followed Poe through the crowd toward the table in the back.  “These seats taken?” Poe said, gesturing at the two across from the smuggler.

The smuggler - Poe had said his name was Zideon, but also that it probably wasn’t his real name - didn’t even look at them, just shrugged.

“Cool,” Poe said, sliding one of the Kowakian rums across the table to him and settling himself in a chair.  Zideon glanced at the drink, and then, eventually, at first Poe and then Finn.

“You looking to do business?” he said lazily.

Poe swirled leaned back casually in his chair.  “Something like that.  What are you offering?”

“Nothing yet,” Zideon said.  Finn looked at Poe, but Poe had his eyes on the smuggler.  

“Huh,” Poe said.  “That’s funny, actually, because Maz Kanata said you had something interesting.  Guess I’ll have to tell her she was wrong.”

Zideon snorted.  “You can tell Maz I’m not interested in negotiating with Resistance pretty boys.”

“What about stormtroopers?” Finn said.

Zideon and Poe both looked at him.  “‘Scuse me?” Zideon said.  His eyes were very dark, but for the first time, he looked interested.

Poe noticed too.  “My friend here used to be on the inside.”

“Bantha shit,” Zideon said.

“If you say so,” Finn said.

Zideon narrowed his eyes.  “Nobody gets _out_  of the inside, once they’re in,” he said quietly.  

“I did,” Finn said, just as quietly.

Zideon looked like he was about to say something else when he suddenly reared back.  “We got company,” he said.

Poe looked over his shoulder and muttered, “Shit.”  Finn looked around.   _Shit_  was right: First Order officers, six of them, spilling in from the front door to the cantina.  

“Friends of yours?” Zideon said.

“Definitely not,” Finn said, ducking his head a little bit.    

Zideon pushed himself back from the table.  “You really want to talk, come back tomorrow, same time, same place.”

“Hang on,” Poe said, but Zideon was already gone; they both watched him as he wound through the crowd.  “Well, he sure got out of here fast.”

“Bad idea,” Finn said quietly.  “Officers don’t travel alone; they’ll have stormtroopers outside watching the doors and patrolling in pairs.  ”

“I don’t think they’re here for us,” Poe said, watching the officers out of the corner of his eye.

“What makes you think that?”

“I think if they were here for us, we’d know it by now.” 

Finn gave him that.  “So what do we do until they leave?”

Poe lifted his glass of Kowakian rum.  “Blend in, remember?” 

Finn reached for Zideon’s untouched glass, lifted it to his mouth and threw it back.  “ _Fuck_ ,” he spluttered, “why did you _order_  this, that tasted like fuel, man - ”

“It’s an acquired taste,” Poe said, downing his own and slamming the glass on the table.  He shook his head like he was trying to get water out of his ears.  “And it’s gonna hit you like a ton of bricks in about 20 minutes.”

“Something to look forward to,” Finn grumbled.

“Can I get you boys anything else?” a passing waitress said.

“A Kowakian rum, please,” Poe said.  “And a Blumfruit cooler for my friend.”

“That doesn’t sound as cool,” Finn complained as the waitress took off with Poe’s credit chip.

“It’s not,” Poe said.  “But it tastes a whole lot better.”

Poe was right: the Blumfruit cooler was delicious.  The second one was even better, and by the time the waitress brought the third, Finn was feeling very much at peace with the galaxy.

“We don’t have anything to worry about,” he told Poe, bopping his head in time with the music.  “This place just seems _cool_.  I don’t think anything bad’s going to happen, you know?  They’re living their lives, and we’re living our lives, and it’s all fine!”

“Yeah, that’s your last one of those,” Poe said, pointing at his drink.

Finn was offended.  “What are you trying to say?”

“I’m trying to say that we’ve probably done enough blending in for one night,” Poe said.  “You look like you’re about to blend in right off the edge of your chair.”

“That,” Finn said, poking a finger into Poe’s chest, “was not very nice.”  He poked again, just for emphasis, and not at _all_  because Poe’s chest was very, very firm.  

“Doesn’t make it any less true,” Poe said.  “You ever been drunk before?”

“Some of the older troopers used to sneak moonshine into the barracks once in a while,” Finn said with a shrug.  “It tasted like it was brewed in a mop bucket, because I’m pretty sure it was, and it wasn’t really strong enough to get anybody drunk.”

“It’s kinda hard for me to imagine stormtroopers partying,” Poe said.

“I think you’d be surprised by a lot of the things stormtroopers get up to,” Finn said, and it wasn’t until the words were completely out of his mouth that he realized exactly how _that_  sounded.

Poe had definitely realized it too, if the smirk spreading across his face was any indication.  “So the First Order _is_ into kinky stuff!  I mean, the rumors have been around for years, but now that we have confirmation from an insider - ”

“Shut up, man,” Finn said, shoving him a little bit, and Poe laughed and held up his hands in surrender.

“All right, all right,” Poe said.  “No judgment, I’m just saying - oh, hey, don’t look now - I _mean_  it, Finn, stars, we have _got_  to get you some training in covert ops - but I think our buddies are leaving.”

“Buddies?” Finn said, looking over his shoulder.  Across the cantina, the First Order officers were moving in a clump toward the door.  “Sweet.  Let’s get out of here.”

“Slow it down, big guy,” Poe said, putting a hand on Finn’s knee.  “They could still be outside, and I dunno if you’ve heard, but I’m pretty famous in the First Order, I broke outta there right under Kylo Ren’s nose, somebody might recognize me.”

“Oh, come on,” Finn said, “I am _definitely_  more famous than you.”

“Ex _cuse_  me?”

“I’m the only stormtrooper to ever defect!” Finn said.  “Or at least the only one who lived to tell the tale.  I bet there’s a _huge_  bounty on my head.  Way bigger than yours.”

“I’m the _best pilot in the Resistance_ ,” Poe said.  “ _And_  I convinced a stormtrooper to steal a TIE fighter for me!”

“You didn’t _convince_ me to - all right, are they gone?” Finn said.  “I can’t sit here another second with somebody who thinks their head on a platter is worth more to the First Order than mine.”

“Yeah, they’re gone,” Poe said, pushing himself back from the table.  “This definitely isn’t over, though.  You think we could put a call in to General Hux and settle this debate?”

“If it would shut you up, I’d be willing to,” Finn said, following Poe as he weaved in and out of the crowd.

The street outside was dark and humid; the only light was the pale orange from the dirty windows and Coyerti’s two bright moons.  “Let’s go,” Poe said quietly, nodding his head toward the alley that ran along the cantina.

“Can’t believe we wasted our time on that guy,” Finn said.  “You think he’ll be back tomorrow?”

“No idea.  Hey, _this_  way,” Poe said, grabbing Finn’s wrist and zigging left when Finn had been about to zag right.  Finn stumbled over his feet, just a little, and Poe yanked him upright, his fingers sliding between Finn’s.  “You good?”

“Course,” Finn said, because he wasn’t _drunk,_  he just wasn’t completely _sober_ , either.  He was in a nice, happy in-between place, made a little bit nicer and happier by the fact that Poe was still holding his hand.  Why was Poe still holding his hand?  

“I knew I shouldn’t have ordered you that last Blumfruit cooler,” Poe said. 

“I would’ve ordered it myself,” Finn said.

“Sure, buddy,” Poe said, squeezing his hand.  “Hey.”

“Hey what?” Finn said.

“Nothing,” Poe said, smiling, Finn felt, suddenly, like gravity had gone a little bit sideways, and maybe he was drunker than he thought because nobody seemed to be leaning forward but the next thing he knew they were kissing.

“Sorry,” Poe said, pulling back, “sorry, shit - ”

“Why are you apologizing, are you secretly married or something?” Finn said.

“I don’t think so,” Poe said.  “But I shouldn’t have kissed you, I - ”

“I’m pretty sure _I_  kissed _you_ ,” Finn said.  “Also who cares, can we do it again?”

“You’re gonna kill me,” Poe said, and then he stepped forward, crowding into Finn’s space and Finn _liked_  it, so he crowded Poe right back, sliding a hand around Poe’s waist and hauling him closer so they could get back to the whole kissing thing.  

“ _Finn_ ,” Poe groaned, actually _groaned_  and that was pretty much the most awesome sound Finn had ever heard, “we gotta get back to the ship.”

“Yeah, sure,” Finn said, nipping at his lower lip instead.

“I’m - _fuck_  - serious, I’m _serious_ ,” Poe said, stepping backwards and pulling Finn along with him.  “It’s like half a block, buddy, come on - ”

“All right, all right,” Finn said, jogging a little to keep up.  “But when we get there, can we - ”

“Hang on, are you drunk?”

Finn considered lying, and decided on, “Kind of.”

“Me too,” Poe said.  “Look, we’re friends, right?”

“Definitely.”

“And friends - they do stuff, sometimes, for fun.  To help each other out.  Right?”

“Sure,” Finn said.

“And it’s casual,” Poe said, “because you’re not looking for anything, I get that - ”

“Of course,” Finn said, because he would have agreed to literally anything just then, and because he knew about casual sex, he knew _all_  about casual sex, in fact he really _only_  knew about casual sex, because that was the only kind of sex you could have, in the First Order; the officers looked the other way as long as you kept it to yourself, and if you didn’t, that was a great way to get yourself sent off to a new unit, permanently, so _everybody_  kept it casual.  Finn knew casual; Finn was an _expert_  at casual.

“Awesome,” Poe said, and Finn could see the shipyard now, and their little light freighter just inside the fence.  “That’s awesome, look, this doesn’t have to be a big deal - ”

“Definitely,” Finn said.  “Not a big deal at all.  I’m 100% with you.”

“Great,” Poe said, reaching for the keypad that would let them into their ship, “that’s great, because - ”

But Finn didn’t really care what else Poe had to say about how great that was so he kissed him again, hard this time, and luckily Poe was good at doing things without looking because the hatch opened up and they fell backwards into the ship.  Finn stopped kissing Poe for as long as it took to scramble inside and close the hatch behind them, which was far too long if you asked him, and then they were standing in the middle of the main bay, a bunk on each side of them, and Poe was just _looking_  at him.

“What?” Finn said.

“Nothing,” Poe said, and grinned.  “Do you want to - ”

“ _Yes_ ,” Finn said, and they met in the middle.  Finn wanted to touch Poe _everywhere_ , because this wasn’t just anyone, this was _Poe_ , who’d saved his life a bunch of times and made him laugh and did that thing where he ran his hand through his hair and looked _so cool_ , and Finn was glad he hadn’t finished that last Blumfruit cooler because he wanted to _remember_  this.  

“Yours or mine?” Poe murmured against his lips.

“What?” Finn said.

“Bunks,” Poe said, “can we - ”

“Whatever,” Finn said, “I don’t - ”

“Yeah,” Poe breathed, pulling them towards his bunk and pushing Finn’s jacket off his shoulders.  “Off, take this - ”

“You too, you - ”

“I’m _working_  on it, buddy.”

“Okay, but work _faster_ ,” Finn said.

Poe laughed, his pupils blown wide as he kicked off his shoes and flopped onto his bunk.  “Somebody’s impatient.”

“Somebody’s _slow_ ,” Finn growled, crowding between Poe’s legs.  Poe ran his hands up Finn’s sides and then pulled his shirt off, then he slid his hands across Finn’s chest and down his stomach.  

“What do you want?” Poe said, pulling on Finn’s belt loops.

“Uh,” Finn said, “anything, honestly,” and that was the right answer, apparently, because Poe grinned, unzipped his pants, and pulled him out all in one swift motion.  

Finn groaned and let his head fall back, and then Poe was pulling him closer and - “ _Fuck_ ,” Finn said, because suddenly there was warm wet heat around his dick, and _wow_ , Poe was good at everything and Finn hadn’t expected this to be an exception but he was _really_  good at this.  “You’re really good at this,” he said, stupidly.

Poe looked up at him from under his long eyelashes, and Finn’s hips stuttered forward without his permission.  He pressed his knuckles to his lips to keep in the sounds that were threatening to spill out. 

Poe pulled off with a wet _pop_.  “Don’t have to be quiet,” he said, his voice a little rough.  “In fact, I wouldn’t mind it at all if you _weren’t_  quiet.”

“ _Fuck_ ,” Finn groaned, because apparently all he’d needed was permission, “Poe, fuck, yes - ”

“Yeah,” Poe said, leaning forward again, then pulled him in deeper, his lips stretched around Finn’s cock, and this wasn’t gonna last much longer, not with the way one of Poe’s hands was squeezing his ass and the other was twisting around his nipple and - 

“ _Fuck,_ I’m gonna,” Finn said, and then he did, straight down Poe’s throat.  

Poe swallowed right through it and then pulled away, grinning.  

“Sorry,” Finn said.  “I shouldn’t have - ”

“Oh, don’t apologize,” Poe said, sliding back on the bunk and pulling at Finn until he slid into bed next to him.  “Seriously, I fucking _loved_  that, the absolute last thing you need to be doing is apologizing - ”

“And what’s the first thing I need to be doing?” Finn said, insinuating his hand between them and wrapping his hand around Poe’s dick.

“ _That_ ,” Poe groaned, “definitely that, fuck, I’m really close already, just don’t stop - ”

“Wasn’t planning on it,” Finn said, crushing his lips to Poe’s; Poe kissed him back like Finn was water after a full day on Jakku, and Finn swallowed every gasp eagerly, his hand sliding between them until Poe threw his head back and groaned, spilling over Finn’s hand.

“Damn,” Poe said, a little shakily, as he came back down, “that was - ”   

“Awesome,” Finn said, and Poe kissed him again.  

“Just so you know,” Poe said, “I’m gonna fall asleep in about twenty seconds, I’m _really_  bad about that, don’t take it personal - BB-8, can you hit the lights?”

BB-8 chirped at them, and the lights in the ship went off.  

“So here’s a question,” Finn said into the sudden darkness.  “Was BB-8 watching us?”

“Uh,” Poe said.  “No.”

“Really?” Finn said.

“Definitely not.  BB-8, bud, were you watching us?”

BB-8 beeped cheerfully.

“He said no,” Poe said.

“Why do I have a feeling you’re lying,” Finn said.

“‘M not,” Poe mumbled, burrowing into his pillow and wrapping an arm around Finn’s waist, and Finn yawned and thought about how he should probably get out of Poe’s bunk and make his way across the ship to his own… maybe in just a second...

  
  
  


“Morning,” Poe said.

Finn yelped, flailed, and fell right off the edge of the bunk and onto his bare ass.  “Ow.  Fuck.  Ow.”

“Shit,” Poe said, leaning over the edge of the bunk, “are you - ” and that must have been when he decided that Finn was fine, if by fine you meant “mortified to the point of near-death”, because he burst out laughing.

“Not.  Cool,” Finn said.

“Sorry, sorry,” Poe said, wiping his eyes, “it’s just, you just rolled _right_  out of there.”

“Oh, did I?  I hadn’t noticed.”

“C’mere,” Poe said, hauling Finn back into the bunk.  He, like Finn, was very, _very_  naked - Finn was trying not to look, he _really_  was - and he was grinning so widely that Finn couldn’t help return it, a little bit.  “You okay?  Not hurt?”

“Only my pride,” Finn said.  “And my ass, a little.  I forgot you were here.  In bed.  Next to me.”

“I’ll try to be a little more obvious about it next time - I’m hungover, are you hungover?”

“Not really,” Finn said.

“Oh, to be young again,” Poe said.  “Hey, we’re good, right?”

“What?” Finn said.  

“I mean,” Poe said, and waved in the general direction of where they were both, you know.   Naked.

“Oh,” Finn said.  “Of course.  Like you said, it’s casual.”

“Cool.”  

“Yeah,” Finn said.  “Cool.”

They both looked around at nothing.  Finn wished, vaguely, that he was wearing underwear.  

“But I mean,” Poe said suddenly, “you know, what I said last night, about friends helping each other out - that still stands, today.”

Finn sincerely hoped that Poe meant what he _thought_  he meant.  “Oh?”  

“If you’re interested, that is.”

“I’m interested,” Finn said immediately, and then winced.  “I mean, or whatever.”

Poe grinned.  “Yeah?”

Finn shrugged.   _Be cool_ , he thought, _be COOL._   “Yeah, if you are.  Like you said, it’s not a big deal.”

“Exactly,” Poe said.  “So I can kiss you again?”

“That’d be okay,” Finn said, in a super casual way, because he was _cool_.  

“Good,” Poe said, leaning in.  Kissing Poe sober was different than kissing Poe drunk, but in a good way, Finn decided: it still made his stomach flip over, so that was apparently just _Poe_  and not the drinks.  Good to know.  He slid a hand into Poe’s hair, and Poe groaned a little and pulled him closer.

“Glad we’re on the same page,” Poe said.  “We don’t have to make it a whole big thing, if you don’t want to,” and then he kissed him again, and it wasn’t much, much until later that Finn realized: Poe hadn’t clarified what he should do if he _did_  want to.

Finn commed Rey while Poe was showering and told her all about the failed meeting with the smuggler and the interesting types of people they’d seen in the cantina and absolutely nothing at all about anything else, thank you very much.

“So you’re going back tonight to meet with him again?” Rey said.  She was doing her hair, and Finn wasn’t sure if he should tell her she’d missed a whole chunk on the left.

“I guess so,” Finn said.  “Don’t you think it’s kind of weird, though?  That this contact tells us to show up the same night a couple of First Order officers get to town?”

“I don’t know,” Rey said.  “It could be a coincidence, right?”

“Sure,” Finn said, “but what if - ”

The door to the fresher slid open.  Finn looked over his shoulder to see Poe spilling out of it, a towel wrapped around his waist and his hair slicked back.  “Sorry,” he said, doing a little hop-run across the ship to his locker.  “Hi Rey, sorry, I left my razor out here, I’ll be out of your hair in a second.”

“Hi Poe,” Rey said.  “Finn says you’ll be on Coyerti another night.”

“Yeah, tough luck.”  Poe grabbed his razor and came to stand behind Finn so he could peer down at Rey’s hologram.

“Finn thinks it’s suspicious that the smuggler told you guys to meet him the same day the First Order showed up.”

“It is,” Poe agreed.  He clapped a hand on Finn’s shoulder, and Finn jumped.  “Finn’s got good instincts.  But we’re gonna give it a shot anyway.”  

Rey smiled.  “Why am I not surprised?”

“Because you know we’re stupid.”  Finn looked up at Poe.  “You’re dripping all over me.”

“Oops, sorry, buddy,” Poe said, scrambling back toward the fresher.  “See you later, Rey!”

“Bye,” Rey called.  She waited until the fresher door slid shut before she said, “You slept with him!”

“ _What_?” Finn said.

“You did!” Rey said.  “Didn’t you?  You totally did.  You’re not denying it!  You did!”

“Did the Force tell you that?”

“The Force has way better things to worry about than who you’re getting naked with.”  Rey rolled her eyes.  “And it wouldn’t have been necessary, anyway.  You could have cut the sexual tension between you two with a lightsaber.”

“Shut _up_ ,” Finn groaned.  “Is it that obvious?”

“I mean, to people with _eyes_ ,” Rey said.  “If you only have echolocation, or antennae, it would probably take a few more minutes to figure it out, but - ”

“Can you keep it down?” Finn hissed.  

“No,” Rey said, because she was the _worst_.  “Seriously, well _done_ , Finn.”

“What’s that mean, _well done_?”

“I mean, have you _seen_  Poe?” Rey said.  “What am I saying, you’ve seen _all_  of Poe, you lucky son of a - ”

“Look,” Finn said, “it’s not, like, a serious thing.  We’re just friends.  Who do that kind of stuff.  Sometimes.  Or something.”

“You’re just _friends_?” Rey said.  “Yeah, right, and I’m going to marry Chewie.”

“You could do a lot worse than Chewie,” Finn said seriously.  “I’m hanging up on you now.”

“Okay,” Rey said.  “Have a fun time out on the town tonight with your _boyfriend_!”

“ _Bye_ ,” Finn said.

  
  
  


Zideon was already waiting for them at the same table in the back when they arrived the next night, so Poe skipped the bar and headed straight for him.  

“Huh.”  Zideon looked mildly interested as they took their seats across from him.  “I wasn’t sure you’d be back.”

“We’ve made it through a lot worse than a bunch of drunk low-ranking First Order officers,” Poe said.  “You ready to talk now, or have we wasted even more of our time?”

Zideon took a sip of his ale and leaned forward.  “I understand you’re looking for somebody to transport some goods.”

“It’s a little more complicated than that,” Poe said.  “We have suppliers all over the place, but limited ships and no way to connect with most of them without drawing attention to ourselves.  We need somebody who can get in and get out without arousing more than an average level of suspicion.”

“And what makes you think I’d be interested in getting involved with the Resistance?” Zideon said.  “There’s plenty of work out there that won’t get me killed.”

“True,” Finn said.  “But you lost more than a few customers when the Hosnian system got blown up, right?  Can’t be good for business, a couple billion people getting killed.”

Zideon didn’t respond to that.

“And you’re burning credits greasing the hands of First Order authorities in more and more systems every day,” Poe said.  “We can get you on the routes they don’t control.”

“And all I have to do in return is move a few of your shipments around.”  Zideon leaned back and tipped the rest of his ale into his mouth, shaking the glass until the last drop slid down the side and into his throat.  “I’m not interested in getting involved in this whole business any more than I absolutely have to.  But if you have something you want to shift, you can call me.  And if I hear about anything interesting, maybe you’ll hear about it too.”  


“I think we can work with that,” Poe said.  

“Glad to hear it,” Zideon said.  “Now I suggest you two get out of here.  I told one of those FO guys that there’d be a couple of Resistance leftovers showing up here in, oh, about five minutes.”

Finn rocketed to his feet.  “You _what_?” 

“I was undecided,” Zideon said with a shrug.  “You got five minutes warning, what more do you want?”

Finn turned to Poe.  “Can I hit him?  Please tell me I can hit him.”

“Next time, buddy,” Poe said, heading for the door. 

Finn followed him, shooting a glance over his shoulder at Zideon that, he hoped, made it clear how much he looked forward to “next time.”  “Can you believe that guy?”

“Sure I can,” Poe said.  “Did you expect everybody involved with the Resistance to be friendly, law-abiding citizens of the New Republic?”

“I mean, no, but I also didn’t expect them to be total assholes!”

“More than enough assholes to go around.”  Poe pulled up short at the door and turned to Finn.  “How many troopers do you think they’ll send?”

“Assuming he didn’t tell them exactly who they were coming for?” Finn said.  “A scout squad, probably.”

“And if he _did_  tell them who they were coming for?”

“Probably better not to think about that too much.”

“Awesome,” Poe said.  “All right, when we get on the street, we turn left at the second block and go into - ”

“That alley,” Finn continued, “the one with the - ”

“ - broken window,” Poe said, “and once we’re out of the alley, we - ”

“ - go right, under the archway and - ”

“Out the gate,” Poe finished.  “Cross the road and bam, we’re outta here.”

“Sounds easy enough,” Finn said, letting his hand hover over the blaster at his waist. 

The streets were still packed at this time of night, full of travelers and traders and people who were just starting to get drunk, and Finn and Poe joined the throng easily.  They were most of the way to the alley when Poe grabbed his arm and pulled him against the wall of a nearby building.

Poe nodded down the road.  “Up ahead.”

Finn glanced around the column that was hiding them from view and caught sight of two white helmets.  “They’re fanning out.  We need to make it before they come in the other direction.”

“We’ll run for it,” Poe said.  “You ready?”

“Whenever you are,” Finn said.

Poe grinned and took off.

“So here’s a question,” Finn said, hot on in his heels, “are you going to admit that I was right to have a bad feeling about this guy?”

“Oh, I would have admitted that before.”  Poe skidded around a corner.  “You were definitely right, I wasn’t kidding about you having good instincts - ”

“You, there!” a stormtrooper voice called from down the block.  “Stop!”

“No thanks,” Finn said, picking up the pace as a blast hit the roof of the building next to them.  They were into the shipyard - they were through the gate - 

“BB-8, fire it up!” Poe yelled as he yanked the hatch open, blaster bolts hitting the side of the ship just above their heads.  “Finn, get in the - ”

“Way ahead of you,” Finn said, sliding into the turret as BB-8 trilled at them frantically.

“Yeah, yeah, I get it, I don’t need the calculations, buddy,” Poe said.  “Finn, you ready back there?”  

“Let’s do it. ” Finn peered through the scope as the freighter lifted off.  He fired off two shots at the stormtroopers who were aiming at their ship, and hit one right in the chest.   “Gotcha!” 

“Anybody on our tail?” Poe called.

“Not that I can see,” Finn said, scanning the skies for TIE fighters.  “They’ll be scrambling, though.”

“Too little too late,” Poe said, jumping to hyperdrive.

Finn leaned back against the headrest and let out a deep breath.  “That was close.”

“Tell me about it,” Poe said.  “BB-8, autopilot, and keep me updated on fuel situation, okay?”

Finn turned off the cannons and climbed back into the main bay of the ship, adrenaline pumping through his veins.  “So,” he said.  

“Yeah,” Poe said.  

“Yeah,” Finn said, a little breathlessly.

“All right, get over here,” Poe said, but Finn was already surging forward; they crashed into each other, and there was a little too much in the way of teeth but Finn didn’t even _care_. 

He pushed Poe up against the bulkhead, his hands already fumbling with Poe’s buttons, and breathed, “I just - ”

“I know.”  Poe bit his lower lip.  “Fuck, do I know,” and then he undid Finn’s buttons with a flourish and reached up and _licked his hand_.

“Fuck,” Finn whispered.

Poe kissed him again, then reached between them and taking both of them in hand, and Finn let his head fall back with a groan.  Poe leaned forward and pressed his face to Finn’s neck, and they were both sweating and gasping and then Poe was _biting_  him, his teeth worrying at the skin in the crook of Finn’s neck and then his tongue swiping away the sharpest pain and there was _no_  way that should feel so good but before Finn knew it he was coming, spilling over Poe’s hand and Poe just kept stroking him through it until he came too, his hand stuttering to a stop and his chest heaving.  

“I wouldn’t mind getting chased so much if it always ended like this,” Finn said.

  
  
  


“We gotta get you some new clothes,” Poe said over breakfast the next day.

Finn looked down, then back up.  “What’s wrong with my clothes?”  
  
“First of all, most of those are _my_  clothes,” Poe said, which, to be fair, was completely true.  “And second of all, the next person we’re meeting is a princess, so, you know.  When on Coruscant.”

“A princess?”

“Yeah, a princess,” Poe said.  “But like an actual princess who acts all princessy, not a princess like Leia.”

“Leia’s a princess?” 

“What?  Of course she is,” Poe said.  “Didn’t they teach you guys Galactic history?” 

“Sure, from the other side,” Finn said.  “The only title they used for her was ‘Rebel Scum’.’  Where is she a princess of?”

“Alderaan, doesn’t exist anymore so don’t worry about not having heard of it, point is, _this_  princess is one of Leia’s friends from when she was a kid, I dunno, I think they went to princess camp together or something, she’s mostly kept her head down the last couple of years but the general thinks she can be convinced,” Poe said.  “Convinced by _you_ , in fact.  Apparently she tends to collect strays.”

“Strays?” Finn said, frowning.  “Oh.  You mean me.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t let her keep you,” Poe said.  “For long.”

“Very reassuring,” Finn said.

  
  
  


“This place,” Finn said, looking around in awe, “is _huge_.”

Poe led the way down the nearest towering aisle.  “You never been in one of these?” 

“I’ve never been in a store at all,” Finn said.  “We didn’t exactly go out and buy our stormtrooper armor in bulk.”

“Well in that case, welcome to Galactic Supplies, your one-stop shop for everything you could possibly need and a lot of things you definitely don’t.” 

“I don’t understand,” Finn said.  “You said we could get clothes here, but all I’m seeing is droid parts.”

“That’s because we’re in the mechanics department.  Over there is food, then you got pharma, cleaning, furniture, and then past _that_  is clothes.”

“I’m sorry, is that a _blasters_  section?  They’ll just sell anybody a blaster?”

“Sure,” Poe said.  “I mean, they run a background check - which, for the record, I would not pass - but yeah, mostly anybody off the street can buy one.”

“That’s crazy,” Finn said.  “People should _not_  be walking around buying blasters alongside, like, loth-cat litter and beanbag chairs.  What do they need blasters for?  I mean, they’re _dangerous_!”

“How the _hell_  did you come out of the First Order?” Poe shook his head.  “All right, go find yourself something to wear for a meeting with royalty, I’m gonna get some supplies, okay?”

“How am I supposed to know what to wear to a meeting with royalty?” Finn called after him, but Poe just waved him away.

Half an hour later, Finn had a few things that he was pretty sure weren’t too embarrassing to wear in front of a princess - not that he knew what princesses were like, other than “similar to General Organa, sort of” - and caught up with Poe at the exit.

“What’d you get?” Finn said, grabbing one of the bulging bags Poe was carrying.  

“This and that,” Poe said unhelpfully, adjusting the other bags in his arms.  “You like sweet bread, right?”

“I like pretty much anything that isn’t First Order rations.”  Finn poked through the bag.  “Hey, what’s this?”

“Hm?” Poe said.  “Oh, nothing.”

Finn frowned down at the small cylindrical bottle.  “Personal lubricant,” he read, “for use in humanoid - ”  He paused.  “Uh.  So this is for - ”

Poe smirked.  “Exactly what you think it’s for.”  

Finn almost dropped his bags. 

  
  
  


Princess Ashanta was, to put it mildly, a _lot_  more princessy than Leia.  She wore a _crown_  to dinner, for one thing, and for another, each place setting at dinner had about seventeen different forks, and Princess Ashanta seemed to know how to use each and every one of them, whereas Finn had seen Leia eat a serving of rations directly out of the bag. 

“So,” Princess Ashanta said to Finn once they’d made it through their main course, “Leia tells me you used to be a stormtrooper.”

“Yes, your highness,” Finn said.  

“And that wasn’t to your liking?”

“Not exactly,” Finn said.

“So you left,” Princess Ashanta said.  “What drove you to take that step?”

“Well,” Finn said, glancing down the long table to where Poe was deep in conversation with one of the princess’s advisors, “I saw an opportunity to leave, and I took it.”

Ashanta’s brow furrowed.  “So then why did you join in the first place?”

“Huh?” Finn said.  “Oh, I didn’t.”

“Excuse me?”

“I grew up in the First Order,” Finn said.  “I never knew anything else.”

Princess Ashanta put her eleventh fork down delicately.  “Who were your parents?”

“No idea,” Finn said.  “The First Order took me when I was a kid.  A baby, maybe.  I don’t know.  They never told me anything about it.”

Ashanta looked distraught.  Suddenly, it became _very_  clear to Finn exactly why he’d been sent to this particular recruiting target.

“I’d heard the rumors, but to see the evidence right in front of me - you poor thing,” Ashanta murmured. 

Finn didn’t really like being called “you poor thing”, but he knew a good opening when he saw one.  “It’s not so bad.  Before, I was only FN-2187.  Now at least I have a name.”

Princess Ashanta’s eyes widened.  “So do you plan to stay with the Resistance?” she said, clearly torn between fascination and horror.

“Oh.”  Finn glanced again down the table again.  “I think so.  It’s not like I have anywhere else to go, and the Resistance - there are a lot of good people here.”

Ashanta followed his line of sight.  “Ah.  I see.”

“What?” Finn said. 

Ashanta smiled.  “Nothing.  Can I interest you in dessert?”

  
  
  


“So how do you think it went?” Finn asked.  They were almost back to the ship, though not before multiple dessert courses, some kind of sparkling wine, and a plate of what looked like cheese that had gone very wrong.  

“How do _I_  think it went?   _You_  were the one the princess couldn’t get enough of.”  Poe knocked into Finn with his shoulder. 

“You were right about her liking strays,” Finn said.  “By the end of the night I was worried she was going to try to adopt me.”

“There are worse people to get adopted by,” Poe said.  “You’d get your own bedroom.  Hell, you’d probably get your own _wing_.”

“I don’t think I could get used to eating off those fancy plates.”

“On the upside, you’d never have to cook for yourself again, which, as someone who has eaten your cooking, I can attest would be a _very_  big upside.”

“Hey, I have been getting _way_  better at cooking,” Finn said, pulling the ship’s hatch shut behind them as Poe flipped on the interior lights.  “You barely even gagged on that rice thing I made the other night.”

“That was rice?” Poe said.  “Seriously, though, she says she’ll send an envoy to Leia, which is pretty much the best we could hope for, so I think we did good.   _You_  did good.”

“I did okay,” Finn said.  “Assuming I didn’t mortally offend her by using the same spoon for all six courses.”

“She’ll get over it.”  Poe hooked a finger into Finn’s belt loop and pulled him closer, then pressed a kiss to Finn’s lower lip.  “She was _very_  taken with you.”

“You jealous?” Finn said, pushing Poe back towards his bunk.  

“Oh, very much so,” Poe said, stumbling into bed.  “Why, you thinking about spending the night with her instead?”

Finn crawled into the bunk on top of him.  “I think I’m good here.”

“Well that’s a relief,” Poe said, leaning up and pressing their lips together, “because I was hoping you might wanna fuck me tonight.”

Finn made a sound that he was not particularly proud of.

“Was that a yes or a no?” Poe said, pulling back.

“ _Yes_ ,” Finn said, “that was definitely a yes, that could not be any more of a yes - ”

“That’s what I was hoping.”

Clothes were yanked off and limbs were rearranged until they were both naked, Finn sprawled out on his back and Poe on top of him, his knees on either side of Finn’s hips and one of his hands between his legs, slowly opening himself up, the slick dripping down his hand.  Finn gave up trying not to stare at Poe’s fingers, first one and then two and then, _fuck_ , three, slipping in and out.  Poe was watching Finn watch him, his other hand slowly pumping his dick, his grin punctuated by breathy moans.

“So,” Poe said, “do you wanna - ”

“Yes,” Finn said, “ _please_ , yes, because if you keep doing what you’re doing much longer it’s not gonna be an option anymore.”

“Now there’s an idea,” Poe said, slowly withdrawing his fingers and adding more lube to rub over Finn’s already-leaking cock, “just touching myself and talking to you until you come all over me, that doesn’t sound so bad.”

Finn, for the record, did _not_  moan pathetically.  

“But maybe we can save that for another time.  I was kinda looking forward to this.”  Poe gave Finn’s dick one last slicked-up stroke and then lifted himself up, positioned Finn’s dick until it pressed against Poe’s entrance, just a little, just enough to tease.  “Yeah?” 

“Yeah,” Finn said, showing what he would call _enormous_  restraint by staying perfectly still.

“Good,” Poe said, and pressed down until Finn slid inside him.  Finn watched himself disappear into Poe’s body; Poe was a vision above him, his lower lip bitten-red and his eyes dark, and then he lifted himself up again, just as slowly, and started to fuck himself on Finn’s dick.  “Oh, fuck.  Finn, you feel _so_ \- ” 

“Poe,” Finn breathed.  He clung to the sheets and tried to focus on _everything_ : the feel of Poe tightening and opening for him and then tightening again, the way Poe’s hand moved on his own cock in time with his movement, the drop of sweat sliding down the column of Poe’s throat as his head lolled back.  

Poe ran his tongue across his lip and looked down at Finn, one corner of his mouth lifted.  “You can - ah - touch me, you know,” he said.  

“Okay,” Finn said stupidly, his hands flying to Poe’s hips, and Poe laughed, and it was the sexiest thing Finn had ever heard, which seemed super unfair - how could a laugh be _sexy?_   

Finn ran his hands up Poe’s sides, let his thumb slide over the peaks of Poe’s nipples, and Poe groaned.  “You,” Poe said, “you are the most incredible - the most amazing - harder, Finn, _fuck_  me - ”

Finn didn’t need to be told twice; he met Poe halfway, thrusting up into him and trying not to press bruises into Poe’s hips where he held him.  Poe was groaning enthusiastically at this point, his hand matching the speed of his hips, and Finn cradled his ass, urging him faster and faster until Poe squeezed his eyes shut and came with a shout, spurting all over Finn’s chest, and Finn slammed into him, two, three, four more times and fell over the edge with him.

Poe slid forward, his forehead flopping down inelegantly on the pillow next to Finn’s.  “I’m really glad you didn’t get adopted tonight.”

Finn choked on a laugh.  “Me too.”

There was a general shuffling.  

“Should go to my bunk.”  Finn fought back a yawn, because he had a feeling yawning in Poe’s face all of sixty seconds after coming inside him might be considered rude.

“Or you could stay,” Poe said, sliding an arm around his waist.

“Or that.”

  
  
  


Finn woke up squeezed between Poe and the edge of the bunk, his face buried in Poe’s hair.   He had a crick in his neck from sleeping on half a pillow.  The early morning light from the front windshield was managing to catch on the transparisteel over Poe’s bed and reflect _directly_  into Finn’s eyes. Everything was slightly sticky.

It was the _best_.

Poe was snoring, very lightly.  He was warm, pressed against Finn from shoulder to ankle and everything in between, including, Finn was becoming aware, his ass.  Finn shifted against him, very slightly, but despite his best efforts his dick _immediately_  took notice.  

“Mmmf,” Poe grunted. 

Finn pressed his lips to Poe’s shoulder. “Go back to sleep.”

“Don’t want to,” Poe said, arching his back, the _bastard_.  Finn’s dick made its alertness known, swelling to fill the cleft of Poe’s ass, and Finn slid his hand across Poe’s hip and into the thicket of curls around the base of his cock.  

“‘S early,” he said into the shell of Poe’s ear.  

“Can go back to sleep after.”  He twined his fingers with Finn’s and closed both their hands around his dick.

Finn’s hips stuttered forward.  He bit down on the skin where Poe’s neck met his shoulder and thrust forward again, sliding between Poe’s ass cheeks.  “You feel,” he started, and then broke off with a groan, pressing his lips to Poe’s neck.

“Yeah?” Poe gasped, grinding backwards.  “Tell me, Finn.  Your voice - ”

“So good.  I just want to - never stop.”  Finn was babbling now, rutting against Poe’s ass in time with their hands around Poe’s dick, mouthing at Poe’s neck and shoulders.  “Last night, you were so _tight_ , I never wanted to stop - ”

“Force, don’t stop.”  Poe tilted his head back, providing more neck for Finn to suck and bite.  “Keep talking to me, baby, if you keep talking to me like that I’m gonna come, yes, Finn, _Finn_  - ”

And that’s when Leia’s voice said, “General Organa to Commander Dameron and Major Finn, come in.”

“Shit,” Poe said, which was an understatement.  “We read you, General, can you give us a second?”

“Of course,” the general said, a smile in her voice.  Finn extracted himself from Poe’s limbs and reached off the edge of the bunk, feeling desperately for anything that resembled clothes.

“Holo faces the cockpit, we’re fine,” Poe said quietly.

“Unless she heard - ”

“Well, yeah,” Poe said.  “Do you have my - ”

“One pair,” Finn hissed, “I can’t find - ”

“I think we threw them across the room.”

“Here’s my shirt, and your jacket - ”

“Pants, I need _pants_  - ”

“I know you need pants, I’m trying to get you pants!”

By the time they scrambled into the cockpit, they were mostly clothed, except for Finn, who had never found the second pair of underwear and was deeply aware of the sacrifice he’d made for Poe.

“Nice of you to join me,” Leia said as they appeared in view.  She raised her eyebrows.  “Busy morning?”

“Aren’t they always?” Poe said.  “We have an update from Princess Ashanta.”

“I heard from her this morning,” the general said.  “She’s decided to come with her ambassador for a visit to the base.  She seemed very charmed by you two.”

Finn shifted uncomfortably, though it was mostly because of the whole “no underwear” thing.  “Glad to hear it, sir.”

“In fact, she specifically asked that you be present for the meeting,” Leia said.  “Which means you’re due back here in three standard days.”

“We’ll be there,” Poe said. 

“I’ll look forward to it,”  Leia’s hologram glanced from Poe to Finn.  “And boys?  Not that I’m not happy for you two, but next time you’re otherwise occupied, make sure your comm link is set to mute, will you?”

Finn felt, in that moment, that it would have been a relief for a sarlacc pit to open up under his feet.  “Understood, sir.”

“Thank you,” the general said.  “See you soon.”

Her hologram flickered and went out.

“That’ll be funny, eventually,” Poe said into the silence.

“In a hundred years, you think?” Finn said.

“I was gonna say two hundred,” Poe said.

  
  
  


“And then she goes, ‘next time, make sure your comm link is set to mute, will you?’” Finn said.

Rey’s burst of laughter was so explosive that she toppled off Finn’s bunk.  “That is the funniest thing that has ever happened.”

“Thank you, as always, for your support,” Finn said.  “I’m so glad I came back so you can laugh at me to my face instead of just over a comm.”

“Me too,” Rey said, wiping tears from her eyes.  “Where is loverboy, anyway?”

“First of all, don’t ever use that word again, gross, and second of all how should I know?” Finn said.  “I don’t keep track of him.”

“Don’t you?” Rey said, crawling back onto the bunk.  “I thought that was something boyfriends did.”

“He’s _not_  my boyfriend, how many times do I have to tell you it’s not like that?”

“You could tell me a hundred times, but that wouldn’t make it any more true.”

“So you’re calling me a liar.”

“Yes, definitely,” Rey said.  “Sorry, was that not clear?  You’re lying, definitely to me and probably to yourself, too.”

“You’re a terrible best friend,” Finn said.  “I don’t have, like, a _ton_  of experience with best friends, but I’m pretty sure you’re a bad one.”

Rey kicked him.  “This isn’t about me.  This is about you being in denial.”

“I’m not in denial!” Finn said.  “It’s - it’s _casual_ , okay?  That’s all it is.  Why are you making this a whole thing?”

“Because it’s funny to watch you get defensive about it,” Rey said.  

Finn gave a big, exaggerated yawn.  “I’m tired, can you get out of here so I can get some sleep?”

“You’re lying again!” Rey said.  She leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek.  “But I’ll allow it for now.  This conversation is _not_  over.”

“Is it ever?” Finn said.  

  
  
  


Finn felt like he had been asleep for about three seconds when somebody murmured, “Move over, buddy.”

Finn blinked up at Poe.  “Wha?”

“Couldn’t sleep,” Poe whispered.  “I thought I could - ”

“Course.”  Finn squeezed back until there was space for Poe to climb in next to him.  “Uh, did you - I mean, I could go down on you, or - ”

“Oh, that’s not what I - do you want to?”  

“Until a few seconds ago I was asleep, so like, I could go either way.”

“No, I just - I think I got used to sleeping, you know.  Near you.”  


“Oh,” Finn said.  “That’s - ”

“Stupid, I know,” Poe said.

“No, I was gonna say,” Finn swallowed, “it’s whatever.”   

Poe wrapped an arm around his waist and pulled him closer, not that they had much choice in the narrow bunk.  “As long as you’re cool with whatever.”

“Definitely,” Finn said, his breaths evening out.  

“Good,” Poe said.

The second and much more rude awakening of the night came when somebody started trying to break into his quarters.

“Whozzat?” Finn said, sitting up straight.

Outside the door, there was a frantic beeping.

“BB-8,” Poe grumbled, rubbing his eyes, “what the hell is so - what?”

BB-8 trilled.

Poe sat up straight.  “Shit, all right, we’re coming.”

“What’d he say?” Finn said.

Poe extricated himself from the blankets.  “General’s looking for us.  C’mon, get dressed.  Apparently she came to my bunk and then sent BB-8 here - she’s gonna give us so much shit.”

“Nothing new there,” Finn muttered, pulling on his shoes.  

They made it through the base to the command center, which was much more active than it usually was during third shift.  “Sir,” Poe said.  “Sorry I wasn’t in my bunk, I - ”

“I knew I only had a fifty-fifty shot.”  The general glanced from Poe to Finn, and Finn fought the urge to blush.  “We have a situation.  Princess Ashanta’s ship has been boarded just outside the system.”

“First Order?” Poe said.

“We’re not sure,” Leia said.  “We got an SOS from her pilot and then lost the connection.  I need you and Wexley to escort a unit.  Finn, you’ll lead the unit in one of the light freighters.”

“Me?” Finn said. 

“Yeah, you,” General Organa said.  “You leave in twenty minutes.”

“Understood,” Finn said, and the general swept away.

BB-8 trilled at them.  “I know, buddy,” Poe said.  He bumped his shoulder into Finn’s.  “Don’t get shot, okay?”

“I won’t if you won’t,” Finn said.

“Deal,” Poe said, grinning.

  
  
  


“I can’t believe you got shot,” Rey said, rolling her eyes.

Finn winced as she dabbed bacta on his shoulder.  “I only got shot a _little_  bit.  In fact I’d really call it more of a graze.”

“Princess Ashanta looked like she wanted to kiss you,” Rey said.  

“She did, as soon as we rescued her,” Finn said darkly.  “Twice.  I think she might try to kidnap me and take me home with her.”

“There are a few people around here who might have something to say about that,” Rey said.  “Then again, do you think she’d pay us for you?  She’s _really_  rich, and we could use the credits.”

“That’s no way to treat a hero who just got _shot_.”

“A moment ago it was just a graze!” Rey pressed a stack of gauze to his shoulder and wound medical tape around it.  “Don’t get it wet until morning and you’ll be fine, oh great hero of the Resistance.”

“Thanks,” Finn said.  “Think there’s any dinner left?  Rescuing princesses is hungry work.”

“I’m sure we can scrounge up some - ” 

The door to the med bay slid open, and Poe, still wearing his orange flightsuit and carrying his helmet under his arm, burst in.  “Finn!” he yelled, looking around wildly.  “Where’s Finn - _where’s_  - ”

“Over here,” Finn said, waving his uninjured arm.

Poe turned toward him, and Finn had a moment to take in his white face before Poe surged forward, and he must have dropped his helmet somewhere because Finn heard the clatter of it hitting the floor before Poe grabbed his face and looked at him with wide, terrified eyes.  

“Are you okay?  There was chatter on the comms, somebody said you got shot, they didn’t know if you were - _are you okay_?” Poe said, sounding out of breath, like he’d run all the way from the hangar.

“It was just a graze,” Finn said weakly.  “I’m fine.”

“ _Fuck_.”  Poe pulled Finn in and pressed their foreheads together.  “Fuck, I thought - _fuck_.”

“Sorry for not holding up my end of the deal.”

“I guess I can forgive you this time,” Poe said.  His thumb stroked Finn’s cheek.  Finn leaned into him more, and Rey was going to give him shit for this, he just _knew_  it - 

Poe froze.  He pulled his hands away from Finn’s face like he’d been burnt and leaned back, putting space between them so fast that Finn felt the inrush of cool air.  “Shit.  Sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Finn said, even though he didn’t know what Poe was apologizing for.  Behind him, Rey was smirking openly.

Poe took a big step back.  “No, it’s - ”

“Do you want to get some dinner?” Rey said.  “We were about to - ”

“No,” Poe said, backing away.  “I’ll catch you later, I have to - debrief and all, so - ”

And he grabbed his helmet off the floor and jogged out the door.

“What was that you were saying about not having a boyfriend?” Rey said smugly.  

“Shut up,” Finn grumbled.

  
  
  


When Finn got back to his bunk after dinner, Poe was out in the corridor, leaning against the hall and paging through a holopad.

“Oh, hey,” he said, looking up as Finn approached.  “Thought I’d drop by and see how you were doing.”

“I’m good,” Finn said.  “Barely avoided another Princess Ashanta hug in the mess, but other than that, couldn’t be better.”  He flipped on the light in his bunk as the door slid shut behind Poe.  “You?”

“Sure, I’m good,” Poe said.  “Hey, I’m sorry about earlier.”

Finn looked up from untying his boots.  “What do you mean?”

“In the med bay.”  Poe rubbed the back of his neck.  “I didn’t mean to - ”

“Oh, it’s fine,” Finn said.  “I mean, Rey gave me a hard time, but it’s not like _that_ ’s anything new.”

“Still,” Poe said.  “I shouldn’t have - ”

“Hey,” Finn said, “it’s cool.  I was glad to see you.”  He stepped closer, right into Poe’s space.  “I’m glad to see you now, too.”

“Yeah?”  Poe wasn’t smiling.

“Course,” Finn said, and kissed him.  Poe was stiff, and Finn bit at his lower lip teasingly.  “S’matter?  Too tired from all the heroics earlier?”

“From what I heard, you were the hero,” Poe said.

“Yeah, I’m becoming kind of a legend around here.”  Finn walked them back until his legs hit his bunk.  He sank down, pulling Poe with him until Poe was straddling him. 

“You are.”  Poe kissed along his jaw.  “They’ll start building a statue in your honor if you’re not careful.”

“Make sure they make me look tall, will you?” Finn breathed.  

“What do you mean, _make_  you look tall?” Poe ground against him and pressed his face to Finn’s neck.  “You’re plenty tall.”

Finn slid his hand around Poe’s waist until he could squeeze his ass.  “You’re only saying that because you’re the same height as me.”  

“That’s neither here nor - _ah_  - there.”  Poe pulled at the hem of Finn’s shirt, then he ran his hands up Finn’s back, carefully avoiding the bandage on his shoulder.  “You’re gonna make a great statue.  These arms, man, some artist is gonna go to _town_  on these - ”

Finn cut him off, sliding his tongue into Poe’s mouth just as he wrapped his hand around Poe’s cock.  Poe squirmed in his lap, trying to get closer and further away all at once, and Finn held him tighter.  

“You’re amazing,” Finn whispered stupidly against his lips, “so gorgeous, you’re _so -_ ”

“Finn,” Poe said, a little hoarsely, “will you fuck me?  I want you to fuck me.”

“Don’t have to ask me twice,” Finn said, and then Finn had a few seconds to be disappointed at the rush of cool air before Poe yanked off his shirt and stepped out of his pants and crawled back into the bunk.  He wrapped a hand around Finn’s neck and kissed him, hard, and it seemed like he was trying to say something, but Finn wasn’t practiced enough, couldn’t quite hear it; he’d have to ask later.  

Finn scrabbled under the bunk and got lucky, and then he had Poe on his back, opening him up carefully just the way Poe had shown him (and hadn’t _that_  been a fun lesson), watching as Poe squeezed his eyes shut and beared down on him.  “More, Finn, come on, I want - ”

“Impatient.”  Finn nipped at his thigh, added a second finger.  

“Just want you inside me, can you blame me?”

Finn crawled up the bunk until he could kiss the corner of Poe’s mouth.  “Now?” 

Poe dragged his nails down Finn’s back and murmured against his lips, “Yes, now, _now_ , Finn, _please,_ ” and it was hard to say no, when he put it that way, so Finn lined himself up and pressed inside.  

Poe went completely still, and that was rare, Poe being completely still for any length of time that could be perceived by humans, so Finn breathed, “You good?”

“Yeah,” Poe said, his voice so wrecked that Finn almost didn’t believe him, “yeah, _move_ , I - ”

Finn rocked forward.  He loved this part: the first moment of being completely inside, enmeshed, surrounded.  He pressed his lips to Poe’s neck, smelled sweat and sex and just a trace of jet fuel, and it was so _Poe_  that Finn pressed forward, wanting to be _closer_ , somehow, even closer than they were now, and Poe seemed to want that too; he caught Finn’s lips and kissed him, thrusting up to meet until their bodies were sliding together faster, sharper, _harder_.  

Poe normally talked a lot, during, but he was quiet now, and Finn wondered if he had any idea what he looked like, if he knew his face was a performance that Finn wanted to watch over and over until he had it memorized.  He gripped Poe’s thighs, felt Poe’s hand working between them, thought of Poe’s pale face in med bay and tried to tell him with every thrust, _I’m here, I’m here, I’m here_.

Poe was gasping now, his forehead pressed to Finn’s and his eyes shut tight, and Finn was close, so close that he couldn’t help the words spilling out, “Come for me, please come for me, I want to feel you, _Poe_  - ”

And he did, smothering his moans against Finn’s lips as he spilled into his hand, and Finn let his own thrusts go erratic and fast and sloppy, swallowed the air from Poe’s lungs as he buried himself deep once, twice, three times more and came.  

Poe kissed him through it, a lazy press of lips and tongue, until Finn groaned and slid away.  He sifted through the clothes on the floor until he found something that he was pretty sure was his and used it to wipe them both off, then crowded in beside Poe, wrapping an arm around his waist.  “Think we should get dressed in case General Organa comes looking for us again?” 

Poe laughed into the pillow.  “She knows to knock.”

“Man, I hope so,” Finn said.  He yawned and pressed a kiss to Poe’s shoulder.  “Sleep?” 

“Sounds good,” Poe said, sounding far away, but that was probably just because Finn was already drifting off. 

  
  
  


“Didn’t hear you leave this morning,” Finn said.

Poe didn’t look up from where he was tightening a strut below the capacitor.  “Sorry.”

“It’s cool, I was just surprised that you’re capable of being that quiet.”

“I’m a man of many talents.”

“I’ve noticed,” Finn said.  “Want to come back to my bunk and show me some of them?”

Poe frowned a little, still peering at the capacitor.  “Uh.  No.”

“All right, that was a bad line,” Finn admitted.  He reached out, but Poe stepped neatly out of his reach.  “Whoa, that bad of a line?”

“It’s not the - no,” Poe said.  He was holding himself stiffly, looking off somewhere over Finn’s shoulder.  “I don’t think - I don’t want to come back to your room.”

“Oh,” Finn said.  “Okay.  If you’re busy -  ”

“I’m not,” Poe said.  “I just - I don’t think it’s a good idea.  You know?”

Finn stared at him.  “You mean, right now, or - ”

“I mean at all,” Poe said.  He scratched the back of his head, like he did when he was nervous and trying not to show it, and went on, “Like we said, it’s casual, right?  So - ”

“Of course,” Finn said quickly.  “No big deal.  So, you’d rather not, uh - anymore?”

“Right,” Poe said.  “It’s not - I think think it’s better if we’re friends.  Just friends.  Right?”

“Totally,” Finn said.  “I totally understand.”

“I knew you would,” Poe said.  “So, we’re good?”  

“Definitely,” Finn said.  “We’re great.  Yeah.”  

“Cool.”  Poe turned back to the X-wing, flipping over the wrench in his hand.

“Cool,” Finn echoed, and Poe didn’t look up as he walked away.

  
  
  


“I’ll kill him,” Rey said.

“Rey,” Finn said. 

“How do you want me to do it?  I could get him to walk off the edge of that cliff back behind the airstrip.”

“Please don’t.” 

“Or I could strangle him,” Rey said thoughtfully.  “I know it _can_  be done with the Force, but I’ve never tried it. I wouldn’t mind getting some practice in.”

“This isn’t helping.” 

“I know.”  She knocked her shoulder into his.   “I don’t have a lot of experience comforting people.  Violence is easier.”

“Can we just drop it?  It’s not a big deal.”

“You’re a bad liar,” Rey said.  

“I know, that’s why I’m trying to practice,” Finn said.  “It’s not a big deal.  See?  More convincing that time.  Oh, hey, BB-8.”

BB-8 rolled to a stop in front of them and beeped.

“No, he’s not busy.”  Rey turned to Finn.  “Leia wants to see you.”

BB-8 chirruped.

“Oh,” Rey said flatly.  

“What?” Finn said.

“And Poe, too.”

“Great,” Finn said.  

“Want me to come?” Rey offered.  “I could go get my lightsaber first, I’ve been wanting to test it out on - ”

“ _Rey_.”

“All right, all right,” Rey said, holding her hands up as she backed away.  “Just remember that I offered!”

The general was in the middle of the command center, surrounded by people and droids and Poe, leaning against the wall and staring at his feet.  Finn tried to ignore the way Poe didn’t even look up as he approached.

“There you are,” Leia said.  “Ready to ship back out, soldier?”

“Sir?”

“We’ve heard back from one of Commander Dameron’s contacts.  I’d like the two of you to get back on the campaign trail.  You’ve had a lot of success so far - think you can bring a whole squadron home with you?”

“I’ll do my best,” Finn said.  “When do we leave?”

“Right away,” Poe said.

Finn looked at him, and Poe looked away.  “Works for me,” Finn said slowly.

Poe nodded and took off down the corridor; Finn watched him go until the general said, “Finn?”

Finn whipped to face her.  “Yes, sir?”

She smiled kindly at him, and Finn got the feeling he often got when he talked to Leia: that she could see straight through him.  “I can send someone else if you’d rather take on a different mission.  Are you sure you’re okay with this?”

“Of course,” he said.

Leia nodded.  “All right, then.  Pack your bags.”

  
  
  


“So you know all these people from the Academy?” Finn said as they walked toward the brightly-lit cantina.  

It had been a long cycle-and-a-half trip from base; Finn pretended to sleep for most of it, and Poe seemed happy enough to let him do it.  The few hours they were both awake had been filled with what Finn, even with his lack of experience, could tell was a very awkward silence.  

“Some of them, but mostly Talia,” Poe said.  “She and I go way back - she used to let me copy her notes when I was too hungover to go to class, and we flew a lot of runs together when we first got started in the New Republic fleet, but she stuck it out after I left.  But after the Hosnian system - I think people are starting to think about things a little differently.”

“So you think she and her squadron might join the Resistance?” 

Poe shrugged.  “They want to do more than they’re doing right now.  Talia and I are going to talk about what that could mean.  You’ll be talking to some of the younger pilots - putting a face to the Resistance name, you know? Talia!”

“Dameron!”   A tall Twi’lek woman broke away from the group huddled in the back room and met Poe in the center of the room.  “Shouldn’t you be dead by now?”

“And let you win our bet?”  Poe folded her into a hug.  “Keep dreaming.  Tal, this is Finn.”

“Hello, Finn,” Talia said, nodding to him.  “Thanks for coming.  Can we get you something to drink?”

Finn looked around: everybody was holding a drink, but nobody seemed to be enjoying them.  “Sure.”

Poe was good at talking to people he didn’t know, much better than Finn, who hadn’t, for obvious reasons, spent a lot of time at parties.  Finn did his best, and before long Poe left him with a group of pilots around his age.

“So,” Finn said, wishing he had one of those Blumfruit coolers that had made talking seem _really_  easy, “you’re all pilots?”

“Yeah,” one of the pilots said.  “Are you?”

“Poe’s taught me a little, but no, I’m - I was trained for infantry.”

“In the First Order.”  This was said flatly, by a tall pilot whose biceps were as big around as Finn’s neck.

“Yes.  In the First Order.”

“Before you defected and broke Dameron out,” a third pilot chimed in.

“Sounds like you guys have heard the story,” Finn said, forcing a laugh.

“Everybody’s heard the story,” the first pilot said.  “So, you kill a lot of New Republic fighters before you left?”

Finn blinked.  “Uh, no.  I was only in one battle and I didn’t - I didn’t kill anybody.”

“Ever?”

“I mean, I’ve killed a lot of people since then,” Finn said.  “But they were all in the First Order.”

“Yeah, we heard you helped blow up Starkiller,” the third pilot said.  “ _After_  it destroyed the Hosnian system.”

“If we could have done it before, we would have,” Finn said.  “But I wasn’t - I was just trying to get out of there.  It all happened really fast.”

“Sure.”  The pilot exchanged a significant glance with the guy next to him.  “I bet it did.”  

“Look,” Finn said, his grip tightening on his drink.  “You don’t have to like me, but you should listen to Poe.  The Resistance is - ”

“I guess we shouldn’t be that surprised,” the beefy pilot said, cutting him off, “you know, that Dameron trusts you.  He owes you his life, after all.  Probably makes it a little hard to think clearly.”

“Well,” Finn said, “I don’t know about - ”

“I’m not saying you’re not happy to be out of there,” the pilot continued, holding up his hands.  “But we all know they brainwash you guys.  How are we supposed to know you aren’t gonna collect intel and go right back to them?”

“I guess you don’t know that for sure,” Finn said slowly.  “But - ”

The tall pilot took a step forward, and Finn felt the others crowd closer on either side of him.  “Hell, for all we know you’ve told them where we are already.  Does Dameron track your comm use?  Can you _prove_  to us that you aren’t still in contact with them?  Come on, buckethead, aren’t you gonna - ”

“What the hell did you just call him?” Poe said, appearing out of nowhere and shoving himself in between Finn and the taller pilot.  “Say it again, man.”

“Poe,” Finn said, “it’s okay - ”

“No, it’s not,” Poe said.  “What the hell is going on here?”

“We were just talking,” the tall pilot said.  “I’m curious, Dameron - are you sure you’re comfortable with how much of him is still stormtrooper?”

“Yeah, I am,” Poe said.  “Because it’s none.”

The pilot shrugged.  “If you say so.”

“You have no idea what the fuck you’re talking about,” Poe said.

“And you do?” one of the other pilots chimed in.  “You know a lot of rehabilitated troopers?  Because we sure don’t.”

“Finn’s a _hero_ ,” Poe said.  “Which is more than any of you can say.”

“Poe,” Finn said, “it’s fine, I - ”

“No, we’re out of here,” Poe said, brushing roughly past the tall pilot.  “Let’s go.  Talia, you call me if you find anybody who wants to have a serious conversation, all right?  Because I won’t stand here and listen to this shit.”

“Poe,” Talia began.

“We’re _out_  of here,” Poe repeated, pushing open the door.  

He marched through the cantina with his eyes still blazing.  Finn waited until they were out in the street before he said, “Hey, man, it’s not a big - ”

“Yes it is,” Poe said.  “It _is_  a big deal.  I can’t fucking believe I brought you into that - that fucking _charade_.”

“I was expecting something like that at some point,” Finn said.  “I mean, they’re right - we don’t know of any other stormtroopers who - ”

“They’re not _right._ They’re wrong.  They’re _completely_  wrong.”

“All right, all right,” Finn said.  “They’re wrong.”

“Damn right they are,” Poe said.  “I should have _wrecked_  that guy.”

“You couldn’t have taken him,” Finn said.

That startled a laugh out of Poe.  “Thanks for the vote of confidence.”

“I’m just saying, he was big.  Like, really big.  You’re scrappy, but yeah, I think he woulda won.  Easily.  Sorry.”

“Whatever, man,” Poe said.  “Look, I’m sorry.  I should have made sure Talia had vetted her people - ”

“It wasn’t your fault.”

“Yeah, it was,” Poe said.  “I brought you into that, so it’s my fault, okay?”

“It’s cool,” Finn said.  “I should probably get used to it.”

“ _What_?” Poe turned to him angrily.  “Hell, no, Finn.  You should _not_  get used to that.”

“Honestly, man?  Yeah, I probably should.  I have _no_  idea what I’m doing, pretty much ever, not with recruiting, not with being part of the Resistance - I mean, I even managed to mess everything up with - ”

Finn snapped his mouth shut.  

“With what?” Poe said.

“With _you_ ,” Finn gritted out.  He was glad it was a long walk back to the ship; he stared straight ahead, sliding past people going in the other direction and trying to make his face look like he thought this was the most casual conversation he’d ever had which, for the record, it was not. 

“You didn’t do anything wrong,” Poe said.

“Hey, look, you don’t have to explain, it’s like I said, it’s totally cool, I - ” 

“Finn - ”

“Really, I don’t even _want_  to talk about it, actually, and I know _you_  don’t, so - ”

“Finn!” Poe yelled.  “You didn’t do anything wrong.   _I_  did.”

“What did _you_ do wrong?”

Poe blew out an exasperated breath.  “A lot of things.”

Finn glanced at Poe; his face was all crowded together in a frown.  “I mean, could we start with one and go from there?” 

“Yeah, that’d probably be - okay,” Poe said, and ran a hand through his hair.  “Right, so how do I - so you know how, when we started - you know, doing - whatever - I said, oh, this is casual, no big deal, right?”

“Sure.”

“So, at some point I realized I kind of lied to you, not on purpose or anything, but still, it was a lie, because it _was_  a big deal to me.”

“Oh,” Finn said.

“And I tried to pretend it wasn’t, I tried to think, hey, it’s cool, it’ll be _fine_ , everybody’s having a good time, no harm done,” Poe said.  “And then you got shot, and that’s when I realized it was completely not fine.” 

“What wasn’t fine about it?” Finn said

“What wasn’t fine was that I totally freaked out,” Poe said.  “I freaked out so much that it became extremely clear to me and everyone in the medical bay and probably everyone in the entire system that I - you know.  Had feelings for you.”

“You mean,” Finn said, “you liked me?”

“Well, yeah,” Poe said, “definitely, _obviously_ , but more than that.”

“You _really_  liked me?”

“Love!” Poe burst out.  “I love you.  I am _in_  love with you.  That’s the problem.  That’s the thing I did wrong.”

“Oh,” Finn said.  “And what was wrong how, exactly?”

“Because I told you it was casual,” Poe said.  “I said it could be casual, and then I went and got all these feelings and shit, and I started wanting to say crazy stuff that I knew you wouldn’t want to say back, like _this,_  like literally exactly what’s happening _right now_ , and I knew that would fuck everything up for you.”

“Huh,” Finn said.

“Because look, you’re young!  You’re young and you got out of the First Order basically _yesterday_ , and you just wanted to have a good time and you definitely didn’t want me dropping this kind of crap on you and getting all possessive and protective - ”

“So here’s a question,” Finn cut in.  “Am I allowed to say something, or am I just here as an observer?” 

Poe’s mouth fell open.  “Holy shit, I love you.”  His eyes widened.  “Sorry.  I’m shutting up now.”

“Cool,” Finn said.  “So, look.  I don’t know if I can say that thing that you just said.  I’m still getting a feel for that kind of stuff.  But I do know some things, right?  Like I know,” and he paused, took a deep breath.  “Like I know that you’re my favorite person to hang out with.  Don’t tell Rey I said that - I mean, she probably knows, because she knows everything, but yeah.  It’s you.  And I know that being with you - like _with_  you with you - was great.  And I know that the other day, when you told me that you didn’t want us to be like that anymore?  That was pretty much the shittiest thing ever.  And, just a reminder, I used to be a stormtrooper, so I have a lot of shitty things to compare it to.”

Poe laughed, just like Finn hoped he would, and that seemed okay, so Finn went on, “So sure, I don’t have a ton of experience, and I don’t know exactly how I feel about everything, but I think I can pretty confidently say that you being in love with me is definitely _not_  a problem for me.  And it’s way, _way_  less of a problem than thinking you’ve completely lost interest in me.”

“I definitely have not completely lost interest in you,” Poe said.  “It’s pretty much the exact opposite of that, actually.”

“But that’s what you made me _think_ , which was kind of a dick move.”

“I completely agree,” Poe said promptly.  “Zero arguments from me on that.”

“So, in the future, before you make any unilateral decisions about what I may or may not want, do you think you could, I dunno, ask me or something?” Finn said.  

“Yeah, that would be better than what I did,” Poe said.  

“Way better,” Finn agreed.

They were outside the ship now, standing at the open hatch, Finn smothering a grin and Poe not even bothering to try.  “So,” Poe said, leaning forward, his fingers grazing the collar of Finn’s jacket, “can I, uh - ”

“Yeah, what’s the hold up?” Finn said.

“Asshole,” Poe murmured, and Finn almost laughed with relief as he leaned in and kissed him.  He slid a hand into Poe’s hair and held tight, and Poe pulled him closer, and Finn would have to stop to breathe at some point, but that seemed like a problem for the distant future, right now he would rather - 

BB-8 rolled up to the top of the hatch and chirped in a way that managed to sound deeply judgmental. 

“C’mon, buddy, don’t ruin the moment,” Poe groaned.  “BB-8 thinks we should get out of here before we get charged for another hour of parking.”

“BB-8 is a responsible droid,” Finn said.

“BB-8 is an _annoying_ droid,” Poe grumbled, climbing through the hatch and settling into the pilot’s seat.  “Annoying and gunning to get sent to his charger if he does something like that again - all right, what’s our next destination?”

BB-8 beeped at him.

“We don’t have one,” Poe translated.  “Great.  Hey Finn, where do you want to go?”

Finn dropped into the co-pilot’s seat and grinned at him.  “Anywhere sounds good to me.”

“Anywhere it is,” Poe said, and took off.


End file.
